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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadCambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges - Mark 10:39 - 10:39
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39. Δυνάμεθα. The bold answer is the same in both Gospels; but A.V. suggests a difference, “We are able” (Mt.), “We can” (Mk); and so also in the preceding question.
πίεσθε … βαπτισθήσεσθε. As in the case of the rich man (Mar 10:20-21), Christ does not question the estimate which James and John have formed of their own characters, nor does He say that all will be of equal rank in the Kingdom. He tells them that they will share His sufferings, and that it is the Father who will assign places in the Kingdom. But the statement with regard to the sufferings is indefinite, and it is forcing the meaning to call it a prediction that the brothers will be put to death for their belief in Jesus Christ. There is no such prediction, and therefore no difficulty as to its non-fulfilment in the case of John. Both suffered, and James was killed by Herod Agrippa I. (Act 12:2). John was imprisoned and beaten (Act 4:3; Act 5:18; Act 5:40), was banished to Patmos (Rev 1:9), and continued to confess Christ through a long life. The stories of his having been thrown into a caldron of boiling oil (Tert. De Praescr. 36; Jer. C. Jovin. i. 26), and of his having drunk poison in the presence of Domitian (Acta Johannis), probably arose from a desire to find a literal fulfilment of the baptism and the cup. The statement that Papias said that both John and James were slain by the Jews rests on poor authority; if he did say it, he was probably drawing an inference from Christ’s declaration that both brothers should drink His cup. J. A. Robinson, Hist. Character of St John’s Gospel, p. 79. The belief that Jesus had declared that John would not die could not have become current if John had been slain with James. Nor in that case would the Gospel according to the Hebrews have said that James alone was to drink Christ’s cup. Syr-Sin. here has “Ye may be able to drink … ye may be able to be baptized,” and Syr-Cur. has the same, Mat 20:23. This change was doubtless made to meet the difficulty that John was not put to death.